What is the state of "simulator" technology these days...

gotosleep · Feb 14, 2004

I remember seeing a show on Discovery Health last year where they interviewed a CT surgeon who said that computer integrated simulators were getting to the point where his students would put in thousands of hours on them before he ever let them touch a real patient with a knife.
Personally, I would prefer to put serious time on a simulator and then observe about a hundred procedures before ever actually touching a patient. Then again I was just explaining to my wife that I wish I could find a BSN program that spread the core classes out over eight semesters instead of five.
Is this a real possibility anytime soon in the world of anesthesia training? It works well for airline piolets why not health care workers?

we just got one at Bradley U. We haven't used it yet though.

athomas91 · Feb 15, 2004

ours is pretty cool..... can change hr's, bp's...can laryngospasm....

but those dang plastic men are hard as heck to intubate...:)

CRNA, DNSc · Feb 15, 2004

METI Stimulators are now very detailed. The simulator "reads" barcoded syringes, calculates the amount given and demonstrates the appropriate vital sign changes based on the "patient's" conditions. Can be programed to do just about anything. :)

Rhon1991 · Feb 16, 2004

I heard VCU has one (4 years now?) and Ive seen some describe it here somewhere.

crna2bee · Feb 16, 2004

TCU/TWU both have them. I have just been accepted and have not even seen them yet but I have been told that you begin using them the first semester. It seems to be a very exciting new tool. See TCU's CRNA site too see the simulator and it's history.

Dave ARNP · Feb 16, 2004

If you have an urge to play around with meds, you can go to http://www.anesoft.com/Products/as.asp

They have a pretty neat program.

Also have a sedation simulator.

Dave

gwenith, BSN, RN · Feb 16, 2004

I posted a simulation of cardiac surgery the other day - it is fun but so far EVERYONE has "needed a lawyer":chuckle

gooser · Feb 17, 2004

SIU-E has one and it looked really interesting, I got to see it when I was there for my interview. I can't wait to use it. Sounds like it can simulate about any type of situation. It sure looks real.

SRNAVic · Feb 19, 2004

We've got one at Rush University here in Chicago...it definitely helps with the transition into actually doing something to a patient. We used ours exclusively for about 5 months before we even touched a patient, and I think it really helped. They're pretty realistic too (except to intubate--they are too stiff!) and have all of the vital sign and physiologic changes (like the eyes stop blinking and the patient stops breathing after you give your imaginary bar-code syringe of paralytic) that you would expect.

Vic

user69 · Feb 19, 2004

How many programs use animal experimentation for practice? I know it is not exactly the same, but I thought some programs did some.

Allen

Roland · Feb 20, 2004

I think that fear of PETA or Earth Liberation Front harassment or outright terrorism (in the case of ELF) has ended most academic/ teaching uses of animals. Heck, I bet that over seventy percent of the students that I hear discussing the subject claim to be vegetarians. Eating meat (or shopping at Wall-Mart) on University campuses today is equivalent to what wearing a "I love Stalin" shirt would have been during the early 1950's. It's much more ethical to practice on humans than animals, haven't you been adequately reeducated?